History of slavery in the Netherlands

The history of slavery in the Netherlands dates back to the period of classical antiquity. During the Roman era, slavery in large parts of the later Netherlands was reflected by the institution of slavery in the Roman Empire.

During the middle ages, the Netherlands was a part of the Carolingian Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, where chattel slavery was gradually replaced by serfdom. Slavery was eventually phased out in the Netherlands itself during the middle ages. However, in parallel with several other European countries, the Netherlands were later to introduce slave labor in their colonies, while slavery was no longer used in the mother country itself.

During the early modern period, Dutch slave traders bought and sold over 1.6 million slaves. The Netherlands abolished Dutch involvement in the Atlantic slave trade in 1814 under diplomatic pressure from the United Kingdom, but slavery would continue to exist in the Dutch colonial empire until 1863.